Little Pals Childrens Centre Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their nursery experiences. They enter excitedly, chatting to their parents about what they are going to do at nursery and who they are going to see. Children are greeted by friendly staff, who welcome them and help them to begin their nursery day in a positive way. Staff take time to speak to parents at drop off and collection times to ensure that they build and maintain a productive, two-way flow of information sharing. Children quickly settle into their nursery day, seeking out their friendship groups and engaging in fun, freely chosen play and learning.

Children understand the nursery rules and follow the staff's instructions well. They are kind and caring towards each other. Babies receive warm, affectionate care from the staff, who know them well and speak confidently about their individual needs and personalities. Staff praise babies when they show kindness to each other, for example, by passing other children their dummy or drinking cup. Older children guide much of their own play and learning as they confidently move between the indoor and outdoor environments. Children are able to take some risks in their play, helping them to gain a better understanding of what is safe, especially in the well-equipped gardens.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The nursery is one of three linked settings in the local area. A team of directors' work at this setting, supporting the managers and staff effectively. Staff speak highly of the opportunities they have to enhance their knowledge and skills, for example, through training and in-house information-sharing.
• Recent changes to the organisation of the rooms have created a more effective use of space. Changes have also been made to the planning and delivery of the curriculum. As a result, the staff team is in the early days of establishing how it will work in its new roles and embedding the changes to how it plans for children's next steps in learning.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. The management team and staff support the whole family, for example, by hosting communal food distribution and the communal fridge where parents can make use of excess food, such as milk. Parents who shared their views of the nursery during the inspection speak highly of the staff and management. They comment that they receive effective support and that their children are making good progress in their learning and development. Managers provide a range of opportunities for parents to play an active role in their child's learning.
• Staff encourage children effectively to develop strong communication and language skills. They speak to them throughout the day and ask clear and pertinent questions to help them to work things out for themselves. Staff encourage children to speak in small and larger groups. Staff working with babies respond to their babbles, encouraging them to name objects they can see and introducing new vocabulary. They sing songs and rhymes with them.
• Staff support children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. They put in place individual plans for these children and seek guidance and support from professionals outside of the nursery, such as speech and language therapists. Additional funding is used to provide strengthened support and resources to help close any identified gaps in children's development.
• The manager identified during her cohort tracking that some children need additional input to raise their understanding and use of mathematical language and concepts. While additional resources are currently being obtained to help with this, staff do not consistently promote children's mathematical understanding during everyday activities and play.
• Staff follow children's interests well. They provide resources, books, equipment and materials to capture children's interests and extend their learning. For example, they know that many of the children enjoy water play, so provide this at every opportunity, adding different vessels and toys to excite the children.
• Staff speak well of the management team and say that they feel valued and enjoy their job. Managers are constantly looking for new ways to build a stronger staff team, such as 'employee of the month'. If awarded, the member of staff receives rewards for their hard work and inspiring input.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen arrangements for staff to learn from each other to create a consistently strong team and make certain that the curriculum intent and implementation are firmly embedded across the nursery
• develop further the arrangements to focus the support for children's understanding of mathematics so that they benefit from increased opportunities to progress more rapidly in this area of their learning.